All That Really Matters
by FMAlover555 i really like that
Summary: Death is such a sad thing. It's strange how when facing death, you remember when you were the most alive. Royai


"M-mama, am I going to die?" the little girl asked, tears brimming her eyes.

"No baby, shh. It'll all be all right. Help will come, and save you," a woman with golden hair said, wiping away the tears on the girl's face.

"B-but what about you? Will they come and save you, too?"

Pain filled the young woman's eyes. She knew the chance of her making it were close to none, but she would protect this girl until her last breath. The little girl was too smart for her own good, and it saddened her.

"How 'bout I tell you a story until they come?" she asked, trying to change the subject.

The little girl nodded her head.

"I-it's so c-cold M-mama. Y-your breath is keeping my fingers warm, but yours are turning b-blue," the little one whispered.

"Don't worry about me, darling. Just listen to the story I'm about to tell, alright?" the woman pleaded.

"Y-yes M-mama."

The woman sat there for a while, the screams of the others filling her ears. Water lapped at her ankles, and she was slowly losing the feeling in her body. Then, she spoke.

"Once upon a time long, long ago, there was a girl with hair that looked like it was spun from gold, and eyes that were like fire. There was also a man, with black, black hair, and deep onyx eyes.

"They were from different places, one rich and the other poor. She was to marry a man she did not love, and he was destined to travel the earth with no one to understand him. He was an artist, and he drew ladies nude, but he respected them all, treating them with care and delicacy.

"They met one day, in a dark alley. She was sad and alone, crying in desperation. He found her huddled in the corner, and he took her to his home. She stayed hidden for days, hiding away in the warmth of his quarters, being treated with love and care for the first time.

"'Oh, how can I repay such a kind deed done to me?' she asked him one day.

"He simply said, 'Live life the way you wish, not the way you are told.'

"That day while he was at work, she snuck out and returned the ring to her mother and her fiancée. When she told the cruel man she would not marry him, he struck her across the face.

"She swore not to cry until she returned to her hideaway, and she barely made it. She cried and cried and desperately tried to hide the mark now marring her face.

"When the man with onyx eyes returned, he saw something wrong. He smiled a very sad smile and reached for her cheek. She barely flinched, but he saw the pain in her eyes.

"He carefully wiped away the makeup concealing the brutal mark and kissed it gently. He then tended to the wound, placing ice in it and washing away all the cover-up.

"It was at that moment she realized she loved this man more than anything. She saw he loved her as well, and that night he drew her nude. When all was done, they laid together in each other's embrace, bearing no clothing.

"If ever asked, she would say that was the best night of her life. She learned what love is and how to love, but alas, their love was never meant to be.

"The man she was to marry was furious, and he staged an attack on the lovers. The couple ran and ran, but it was no use. They shot the man in the heart, and the poor woman had to watch her lover's life blood spill on the pavement.

"The assassin felt glee at the victory, but then saw the pain in the woman's eyes. It was pain like they'd never seen before, and the woman sobbed into the dying man's chest, telling him she loved him with her entire being, and that she would never love another like she did him.

"All of a sudden, the assassin felt dirty, cold and pathetic. They put the barrel of the gun to their head and pulled the trigger.

"Two people died that night, but only one had truly lived. After, the woman fled the country, bearing her dead lover's child. When the child was born, the woman changed her last name to her loves. That is how she is today with that child, but soon she will join the man she was meant to be with, but the child will stay. The child will live and love, my dear Rosalita, because that child was you."

Her eyes closed for a short moment.

"I will be gone soon, but always remember this: I love you with all my heart, and so does your father. We will watch you from the sky, and protect you. Take this locket, and keep it always. It is my final gift to you." She pressed a small bronze locket into the young girls hands.

And with those last words the woman closed her eyes, forever.

"M-mama?" Rosalita asked.

When the woman did not answer, she began to cry.

"MAMA!" she wailed, clutching the necklace to her chest.

Men came to her not soon after, pulling her out of the freezing cold ocean, leaving her mother to sink with the ship that was slowly making its way to the bottom of the sea.

When later asked who her parents were, she replied:

"It does not matter."

When they persisted, she just answered,

"Roy and Riza, though their names make no difference."

But when asked why she did not cry, she sighed. They did not understand.

"They may be dead, but they will always live inside of me. I will see their faces in my dreams, and hear their laughter in my heart. That is all that truly matters."


End file.
